Buying First Laptop

[willsko87]

Haven't really looked at many Acer models.

I was kinda tossing up between the DV5-1007TX above and the Asus M51VA-AS045G which is pretty similar but a larger screen resolution.

Link to the Asus - Asus M51VA-AS045G 15 INCH NOTEBOOK

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

Get the Vista 64 Bit, I have it and it's pretty good. As for gaming while plugged in, it should be fine. My battery hasn't run all the way out yet, if that's any indication, though I only use mine occasionally during classes when I need it or to browse the web during lunch, other than that it's plugged in.

 

[willsko87]

Cheers, thanks for that. I will try and get them to swap for 64 bit, which they should do because I think it's actually cheaper.

I think I might go with the DV5-1007TX if I my mate can get it cheap.

 

[RJx307]

I bought the 1007tx late last month(adelaide here) and I can honestly say its truly good(i was previously on a P4 3.2ghz, 512mb of ram, 7600GS and 120gb hd) so you can see why I like it...it runs anything i throw at it and more.

a week after getting it I formatted with vista ultimate 64bit and all works fine apart from the onscreen display from 32bit not working right but im not fussed.

Pros:
everything mentioned it doesnt seem to slow down or lag

Cons:
-Heat, it produces ALOT of heat the idle temps for me at about 50-60c and underload can be 70-80c. I deffinately recommend a cooling pad if you buy this laptop especially when gaming(installed css and downloading cod4 but waiting to buy a mouse before playing the games properly).(palm wrests can get warm)

-dirty marks...this thing shows every mark and fingerprint so aslong as your not a cleaning fanatic its fine.

-battery life can be bad on this I have it on high performance settings on battery and it lasts almost 2 hours(not used it on low settings to see what I can get out of the battery)

the two disadvantages I see with this laptop are a. the screens resolution(the american hp dv5t series has a better wsxga+ screen with a better resolution) and lack of bluray drive...otherwise this thing is a beast of a laptop. extremely reliable I have had no crashs running either 32bit home premium vista sp1 or vista ultimate sp1 64bit.

Directory Listing of /screens/lappy/

a few pictures if your interested

also **** smith offer the dv5 1007tx with 100$ cash back and a 120gig external hd for i think its 1750$ I also got a free gps navigation worth 400$ from **** smiths

 

[willsko87]

Thanks heaps for this information. I actually rang Rick Hart (rickhart.net.au), which had the DV5-1007TX for $1599 and the guy said they didn't have any in stock because new models are coming out next week apparently and that I should call back next week.

I found a few articles mentioning new HDX notebooks that are suppose to be coming out at the end of this month, so hopefully I will be able to get the new model around the same price.

Thanks again for the review of the DV5-1007TX, its really helpful. Will try and find out more this week about the "new models."

 

[PadaWaN5]

This will be my first time buying a laptop, so I need a little bit of help on choosing the right one for me. I will be using it for everything I suppose, a little gaming and probably some Web Design/Photoshop on the go, so something with a bit of grunt would be good.

I want to spend around $1330 ($1600 AUD), so what I want to know is how would a low end MacBook compare to a normal laptop of the same price, in terms of performance?

Are their any laptops/brands/features that I should steer clear of?

Here is a HP laptop that I have been looking at, which I can get for $1599 AUD with a free external HDD:

HP Pavilion DV5-1007TX Notebook
Intel® Centrino™2 Duo Processor T9400 @ 2.53 GHz, 6 MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB
320GB HDD
4GB RAM
15.4” Widescreen @ Max 1280 x 800
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512MB dedicated
DVDRW with Lightscribe
Altec Lansing® speakers
Vista Home Premium 32bit
HP Pavilion Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone
Bluetooth wireless networking
Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Intel® WiFi Link 5100 Intel 802.11 a/b/g/n

HP Pavilion dv5-1007tx Entertainment Notebook PC (FK688PA) specifications - HP Home & Home Office products

Looking at the laptop GFX card list on this forum it seems that the GeForce 9600M is half decent. How would this go playing new-ish games?

Are their any better laptops (available in Australia) for the same price?

Any feedback or help would be greatly appreciated.

I do not live in Australia so i cant help your with your last question. But that is a good computer it can run World of Warcraft well, So I would think you can run new-ish games

 

[KSoD]

WoW has really low specs compared to newer games. Saying that since it can run WoW it can run new-ish games isnt a good comparison. WoW pales in comparison to games like BioShock and Crysis.

 

[Harper]

Have you had a look at the same notebook that i purchased 2 weeks ago.

MSI GX620 Gaming Laptop
MSI -- MICRO-STAR INT'L CO., LTD.
Intel Core2Duo 2.4Ghz CPU, 4Gb Ram, 15.4" Wide Screen Display, GeForce 9600 GT 512Mb, 320Gb Hard Drive, DVD Burner, Gigabit Lan, Wireless LAN, 2.0 MegaPixel Webcam, Bluetooth, Windows Vista Home Premium, 2 Years International Warranty

I have noticed that the HP you are considering has a 1280 x 800 res, where the MSI has an inane 1680x1050 resolution. Plus it comes with an international 2 year warranty as appose to a 1 year local.

RRP is about $2100. However i have seen them go for a little under $1975.

If you are interested, PM me as I can source these notebooks for you.